From the 3/4 Classrooms

Welcome Back!

We hope you've had a relaxing breaking and ready for a busy term ahead!

Start-Up:

Throughout the first week of the term, students participated in the B.P.P.S start up program. This program focuses on resetabilishing classroom routines, revisiting our rights and responsibilities, promoting wellbeing through our Zones of Regulation framework, being digital citizens, exploring the value of 'Respect' through the lens of our school environment and our Marrung program. As part of this learning we reviewed our Easter Kulin Seasonal Calendar to learn the features of the 'Waring Season'. Students also revisited the Learning Assets and set goals for themselves for Term 2.

[PHOTOS OF LEARNING ASSETS, GOOD LEARNER OUTLINE, DIGITAL CITIZEN, ZOR SHEETS]

Literacy:

In our literacy program, students were introduced to our mentor text for the term 'Strangers on Country'. We have bgun to build our knowledge of connection to country, european castaways in Australia, belonging survival and cultural practices. Our 3/4 students also began to explore historical narratives, with a focus on using descriptive language to describe characters, settings, events and emotions.

Numeracy:

This term students are developing their multiplicative thinking in Number and Algebra by exploring multiplication and division properties and applying these skills through mathematicaal modelling and problem solving. This week students recapped the use of arrays to activate their prior knowledge, and learnt all about the 'Area model', which is useful when multiplying bigger numbers.

As part of our applied learning, students have been learning about the language of chance, and analyising probability.

Our students:

defined the terms impossible, unlikely, equal chance, likely and certain to describe different situations.
assigned correct probability terms to various probability statements.
communicated and justifed their probability judgments
identifed possible outcomes of chance events.
used chance language to predict the outcomes of chance events.

Integrated:

This term students will be exploring 'First Contact'. They will learn about the lives of Firrst Nations Australians before th Bristish settlers arrived in Australia and the causes and reasons for the journey of the HMB Endeavour and The First Fleet.

To begin our historical journey, students completed the following learning in Week 1 and 2:

explored what the journey to Australia may have been like from a convict's perspective.
learnt how the term 'Terra Nullius' may have made First Nations Australians feel.
contributed to a brainstorm of different ways we can learn about the past.
draew something that happened in each of the Creation stories.
shared what they saw, thought and wondered when examining rock art.
mapped the voyage of the HMB Endeavour.
shared how First Nations Australians might have been feeling and what they might be saying at the time of first contact.

As outlined in our Term 3/4 Term 2 Newsletter, students will practise thinking and acting like historiasn as they are immersed in stories and artefacts to learn more about Australia's history from different perspectives.

Home Learning - Starts this Week:

To support our learning at school, we ask that students complete the following home learning each week:

Read for 30 minutes each night
Complete the weekly activity frin the Maths Home Learning Grid that was sent home earlier in the term.
Practise weekly spelling words each night (Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check)
Multiplication Practice - sent home each week

The maths, spelling and multiplication sheets are glued in Home Learning books, and students should bring these each Monday to receive new home learning for the week ahead and to submit their homework for the previous week to their teachers.

Important Dates:

Week 1 - First Day of Term 2 - Monday 20 April
Week 2 - Cross Country - Wednesday 29 April
Week 4 - Polly Woodside Excursion - Monday 11 May
Week 5 - Education Week - Monday 18 May - Friday 22 May
Week 8 - King’s Birthday - Monday 8 June
Week 9 - Expo - Friday 19 June
Week 10 - Parent/Teacher Interviews - Wednesday 24 June

Prepared by the Grade 3/4 Teachers